Host Welcome | Berlin Brandenburg Airport

Transcript

Stefan Schnorr:Thank you very much for this warm welcome. Aletta von Massenbach, dear representatives of the aviation industry, ladies and gentlemen. It's indeed my pleasure to welcome you here on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transport and on behalf of our Federal Minister Patrick Schnieder. And I am very happy that Berlin, the seat of our federal government, was chosen to follow Lisbon, Barcelona, Budapest, and Manchester as the host city for this high-level event here today. Your central theme, Airlines in Transition, perfectly reflects the challenges facing your industry at the moment. Exciting discussions about the transformation of the aviation industry are therefore, I think, guaranteed at this summit here in Berlin. Ladies and gentlemen, overall, and this is from my opinion the good news, global air traffic is clearly back on growth trajectory. The COVID pandemic and its consequences have been overcome. Global demand is back above pre-crisis level and continues, continues to grow, primarily driven by the international air traffic. However, the development varies very intensively regionally. While air traffic in Germany continued to recover last year, it is still growing more slowly than in the rest of Europe and in other parts of the world. With around 207 million air passengers, numbers in Germany 2025 were almost 4% higher than in the previous year, but still around 8.6% below of the level of 2019. When we had 227 million air passengers in Germany. The structural decline is particularly evident in domestic German air traffic, which was almost halved in 2025 compared to 2019, while international traffic is proving to be significantly more robust. The COVID pandemic was only one setback for air traffic, but I think in its dimension it was the most massive. This was followed by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and currently the war in Middle East. The situation is indeed not easy, also not for your industry. The current geopolitical tensions have very specific implications to aviation. Flight routes are being cancelled. Changed and becoming significantly longer. Fuel prices are increasing and operating costs are on the rise. And this, all this putting strain on airlines worldwide and is putting strain to all of us, all people who want to need, who want or who need to travel around the world. The economy, our supply chains, and our resources. Especially in our global economy, international connectivity is an indispensable prerequisite for growth and prosperity worldwide. Therefore, we as the German federal government and as a whole, not only my ministry, all ministries, so the whole government is clearly committed to air transport, and this is a very important message. We need it, we want it, and therefore we will strengthen it and make it more resilient. Here in Germany too, in a country where operating costs, especially for air travel, are too high, definitely too high, and this is toxic for the development of the aviation sector. The federal government has therefore expressed a clear and unmistakable commitment to strengthening our aviation sector. Now we are taking the necessary measures to make up for mistakes and shortcomings from the past. Last November, a few months after the new federal government took office, a package of measures for the future of aviation in Germany was adopted. The key message is we want to support the aviation industry by creating favorable conditions tailored to local needs, ensuring investment security, and reducing costs. This includes concrete measures at several levels: a reliable long-term orientation of air transport policy, a greater awareness for, for the, of the economic burden caused by taxes and fees here in Germany, as well as a clear affirmation that air transport is a systemically important economic factor for export, for tourism, logistics, and international exchange. Our mission, ladies and gentlemen, is very clear: to not just leave these decisions on paper, but to implement them reliably, transparently, and in close dialogue with you, in close dialogue with the industry. To be more precise, the German air traffic tax will be significantly reduced as of July 1st of this year. In the first step, the last tax increase from May 2024 here in Germany will be reversed. This is an important milestone in strengthening the aviation sector. It will mitigate the resulting distortion of competition compared to other European markets and significantly reduce the direct tax burden for all airlines, for all airlines operating in Germany. And this will save the industry every year over €350 million. Another measure is a gradual reduction of the air traffic control fees. We plan to cut costs by 10% by 2029, and we have already reduced air traffic control fees by a total of €47 million this year in 2026. And at the end of 2025, the German government also abolished the nationally mandated power-to-liquid quota in Germany, which exceeded the EU requirements. This means that the first 3 key elements, the first key relief measures, are already in effect or on a clear, stable course for the implementation. In the next step, the German government is working on significantly reducing the costs of air security here in Germany. The Federal Ministry of Interior is responsible here, which is already reviewing appropriate measures for the future. This also applies to air cargo service and to air cargo security requirements in Germany, some of which also exceed European standards. And speaking of air cargo, ladies and gentlemen, here we also want to simplify customs procedures and in the long term reform the import sales tax issues that our colleagues at the Federal Ministry of Finance are working on. All these shows that the entire federal German government is working to significantly strengthening Germany as an aviation hub. These efforts also include comprehensive deregulation and the consistent reduction of red tape. One of the key projects in this context here in Germany is the digitization of the passenger handling. We want to introduce the so-called digital travel chain As soon as possible in our country, we will create a voluntary option for passengers to read certain data from their passports or from their ID cards in order to simplify and significantly speed up the check-in processes at the airports. Specifically, we expect to save this— the economy for over €60 million every year. And passengers over 1 million hours of time. Further extensive measures are included in the draft bills of the Bureaucracy Reduction Act from my ministry in the sector of transport and the accompanying regulation. These proposals come almost entirely from the private sector, from companies and from trade associations, After all, they, you know best where the problems are, and it's our task, our role as government to free up the way for business as much as possible and to remove obstacles. The legislative process is expected for this regulation to be completed in the 4th quarter, quarter of this year. However, Ladies and gentlemen, it is not just individual rules that are putting a strain in Germany. It is above all the sum, the combination of requirements, redundant checks, unnecessary reporting obligations, and the lengthy procedures. This is where we come in. How? And here are a few examples for this. The procedures for applying for and approving flight schedules, the reporting and documentation requirements that take several months to pass through different authorities or levels, and unnecessary parallel procedures in which several agencies request the same information. It's stupid and it makes no sense. All this is highly ineffective and a burden on public authorities and for you, for the private sector. That is why we decided to eliminate the obligations where there is no longer a clear benefit for, to consolidate interfaces where several authorities or different organization units with the same— within the same authority require the same information, and reassessing procedures that drags on, that drag on for years with clear deadlines and clear responsibilities. We are taking the same approach, ladies and gentlemen, on EU level for the regulation by the European Union. Here too, we need to streamline and to simplify them, and Germany, and I can accept this to you, Germany is playing a very active role in these debates in Brussels. And we are also actively involved in the EASA rules simplification processes, also a very, very important topic for us. Cutting red tape is at the end not a luxury, it is an economic policy imperative. It makes investments more attractive, planning more reliable, and business more efficient And this is exactly what we want. And I think this is also in your interest. Closely linked to this approach is the government modernization. The aviation industry is highly digital, globally interconnected, and fast-paced. The administration must keep up with this rhythm. This includes increased digitization of processes, uniform interfaces between the relevant stakeholders, as well as clearly defining priorities and reevaluation tasks. Not every dataset, I mentioned it before, is useful, and not every new reporting obligation is at the end necessary. We want applications to be processed faster and digitally. We want to ensure that permits to EU regulations and European law are not complicated and additional by additional national procedures. So at the end, no gold plating. This is our interest. And we want businesses to know exactly where they stand with authorities so that they can plan ahead with clarity and with transparency. Government modernization therefore means less effort, higher efficiency, better service quality, also from public authorities. Ladies and gentlemen, another important topic for the aviation industry are air traffic rights. Connectivity in air traffic is significantly influenced by demand, location conditions, and traffic rights. In intra-European air traffic, traffic rights have already been fully liberalized, and we also pursue a liberal position in international air transport. Therefore, in most cases, sufficient traffic rights are already available, and in negotiations with third countries, we continue to advocate for an expansion of traffic rights always under the condition— this is very important for us— under the condition of a level playing field and uniform competitive conditions. In addition to all these activities by the German government, we will present an aviation strategy, the first aviation strategy, by this summer. For the first time, we will take a holistic approach to civil and military aviation industries, as well as to strengthening the nation's position as an aviation hub. The strategy combines 3 key elements. First, economic strength, meaning high-capacity airports, competitive airlines, and efficient processes. Second, reliable framework conditions, meaning clear, predictable rules and investment-friendly environment. And third, sustainability with a clear path to climate friendliness through efficient aircraft, sustainable fuels, and better traffic management. The strategy thus creates a framework for orientation towards a competitive, sovereign, innovative, and sustainable aviation sector in Germany. Ladies and gentlemen, the most pressing issue for all of us at the moment is certainly the impact of the war in Middle East. Rising costs, longer flight times due to airspace closures, and even fear of a jet fuel shortage. While around 70 to 80% of the fuel needed by German aircraft carriers is hedged against price fluctuations. The remaining unhedged part is directly exposed to the current extremely high prices on the market, and this has a significant impact on profitability. You know it better than I. I can assure that we as the German federal government are monitoring the situation, the current situation, very intensive together with the industry. And this is also true to the entire European Union and the European Commission. Here too, we will support the industry as best as we can in the next days, in the next months, in the next weeks. Ladies and gentlemen, to conclude, allow me to sum up it once again. The German Federal government wants to and will strengthen our aviation sector because we need a strong and resilient air transport industry. It's in everybody's, in everyone's interest now more than ever. We need you, the airlines, the airports, your commitment and your innovations. You guarantee our global connectivity. You keep our economy running and you enable people to discover the whole world. And for that, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank all of you very, very much, also personally. And in this spirit, I wish you a successful summit, new insights, new ideas, courage, and energy in these difficult times. Thank you so much and all the best. All the best.

Aletta von Massenbach:Good morning from my side, and thank you very much, dear Vice Minister Schnorr, for these very encouraging words. I think what you have heard already is that we are very closely aligned altogether in Germany to push aviation, and we altogether understand the value of aviation and how it is important to Germany, but also to Berlin. So you saw already, so I'm Aletta von Massenmört, CEO of Berlin Airport, so BER, so we are the host. You saw already a movie, and so basically I could, you know, go down again and say, okay, you've seen everything. You hopefully arrived also through our airport. But let me give you a short address as well and go back to something like, where are we coming from? You see here a very enigmatic picture. So that's not current. So that's a bit of a history. So I will show you a bit of the history. It's not because we are sitting in a museum. It's not because we just look backwards, but it is really because this is where we take pride. This is where we look back, and it gives us lots of strength when it comes to the future. And it is also, you know, to bring somehow the connection. We look back at these pioneers.

Stefan Schnorr:Yeah.

Aletta von Massenbach:And we think, you know, what did they achieve? We are looking back to, this is '99, 1909, this one. So what was the situation there? How courageous were they? How innovative were they? And they really took very important entrepreneurial decisions, and this is encouraging us. So let me just give you a quick flow through the slides that I have prepared, and, you know, to get—

Stefan Schnorr:Thank you.

Aletta von Massenbach:to guide you through our history. I hope this one works. So this one is 1909, and this is, you know, at that time, Berlin was a very, you know, it was a vibrant city. It had different, you know, we had different stages and eras. But I think, you know, there were people around who saw, you know, what can we do with this new technology? What will this mean to us and what will— where will this bring to us? So what we see here, it's Condor, it's still there. I'm not quite sure whether it is directly linked because according to my understanding, Condor is 75 years old and this is a bit older, but this was considered first technology, but the other thing is for advertising. So, you know, that was, you know, a phenomenal instrument to advertise products. And that was the original idea. At the beginning, there was something like 7 different air stripes, strips, whatever, in Berlin, and we made 3 out of them. This one is Tempelhof. Some of you might have heard about Tempelhof. Some of you might have used Tempelhof. We closed it in 2008, but until then, it was something like A wow infrastructure, a wow idea. So it was round, so amazing. So you could even, you know, you get off your airplane and then you walk directly into the terminal, even if it was raining, bad weather, it didn't matter. So it was super efficient, super smart, and it was something like the largest building. You see the whole structure, the largest building in the world.

Stefan Schnorr:Wow.

Aletta von Massenbach:for, you know, lots of decades. So we go on. So this one, I love that one. I love that one. So we see here Lufthansa. So it was still, was a break in there. And this was '26, around '26, this picture. So Lufthansa was founded in Berlin. They just recently had their 100th anniversary with their first flights there with these kind of machines flying to Cologne and to Zurich. It took a little longer than today, But, you know, I think it's really, it's just fascinating to see that. So this was, they took off in Tempelhof, the airport we saw before. So we'd go on. This one is after the Second World War. You might know, I mean, there was a blockade. So, you know, Germany was divided, Berlin was divided, and West Berlin was connected to West Germany, but it was not directly connected.

Stefan Schnorr:Yeah.

Aletta von Massenbach:via roads, so they needed air traffic. So value of aviation, this is what helped Berlin to survive. So without the support of the French, the American, and the British, you know, pilots, and the support we got, you know, when it comes to coal and also food, we wouldn't have survived. We wouldn't be sitting here, by the way. Then we come to Tegel. This is the other very important airport that was built in the '60s. It's all connected to how to survive. And this is the West Berlin airport, the key, the most important West Berlin airport. Tempelhof still was there, but then we had Tegel. So we go on, we go to Schönefeld. That's the third one. That's the third important airport we had in Berlin. And this is East Berlin. This is East Berlin. This is the airport of the former GDR, and this was their gate to the world, a world gate that was not open really to most of the people in Berlin or in East Berlin. Then we said goodbye to the 3 airports we just saw, Tempelhof, Tegel, and Schönefeld. And this is because we were reunited as Germany. So we had one Berlin, and the decision was, also as a showcase, also to demonstrate how important it is, and what does the reunification mean? It means also reunified aviation. And so the decision was, we have a single airport for Berlin, for the capital region, for, you know, it serves Eastern Germany, it serves, you know, far more. But the idea behind was to show how do we You know, what does reunification of Germany mean? It means reunification also of the airports. We have a single airport, it's Berlin Brandenburg, in short called BER, that's like a nickname. So, but the full name is Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt, so that's the long version. And what we have now, you've seen it in the movie, and hopefully you have experienced when coming here, So it's a very modern airport, it's very digitalized, it is sustainable, it has all the catchwords. But, you know, the thing is, we really believe in aviation, we believe in cooperation and partnerships, and we will reinvent ourselves every day. And we want to be partners with airlines in transition. We have transitioned a lot, we have transformed a lot, and we believe that we are the right partners So we are very glad to have CAPA in Berlin, and thanks to CAPA team, thanks to Claudia to make this happen— happening, and to give me the possibility for the first time in my 30-year career to open a CAPA conference. So have a good, wonderful conversations, discussion, exchange here in Berlin, and all the best for your summit. Thank you.

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